Today my wee little girl made me work. Monday being my day without the two biggies, i was looking forward to a day of washing, cleaning and scrapbooking. Unfortunately in that order! But little Poppy Grace had other ideas….she just wasnt happy unless she was sitting on my knee or better still being carried about. Bless her she doesnt get that this is a day when i can do loads of things, i think she gets a bit bored without the floor show isaac and maisie put on every day.
Hopefully she was just feeling a bit out of sorts today and just needed to chew my ear a bit till the feeling passed.
Anyway so not as much done as i could have, but hey she got herself lots of cuddles which is actually the point of having the kids go to the childminder really….

Maybe she thought it was her place to give me a bit of a reality check and help me realise that i go back to work ina couple of months and these moments will soon be unavailable completely.
Cant believe that our little new year girl is nearly five months old…..it sure has gone by quick.

other news…..

went to a local primary school today to see what it was like, thinking about next year and where we will send isaac. Felt very strange waiting to see the headmistress, i think the last time i had to do that i was the pupil, not the parent. I guess i have come a long way.
Got very shocked by the size of the reception class kids. They looked HUGE. Overall not a bad school i dont think, but really not that sure what im looking for in all honesty. Just somewhere that will look after my little boy really.
Parenting eh? just get one decision sorted in your head and then along comes another. respect to all of you much further down this road…

back in all one piece from bonanza, the scrapbook get-to-gether. Primary thought…wow the NEC is HUGE. We turn off the motorway in what seemed like inner city birmingham and then disppear into the country following the signs, then arrive in what looks like a very unused car park and wonder off in the direction of a selection of warehouses. In there we find bonanza, i think as it goes it was probably in a very very small little atrium of the NEC. There where halls and walking travelators all around leading to lots of other halls and the like…mad…it felt like an airport.

So then onto the registration, pick up your bag of free stuff and tool kit, and off to our first lesson. Gill and I got a bit of a shock when the teacher showed us what we where to be making, a little mini book type pull in and out thing…not what we had come for and all very very pink. The paper we used was called ‘sugarcubes’ i think that is probably enough of a description.

Anyway after the initial sneering at it and scoffing at those who seemed swept up in the ‘magic’ of it. We did actually finish it with all its folds, frills and pink stuff and it wasnt too bad, a lesson, nevertheless in the wider bit of this little hobby.

The rest of our day was spent blissfully wondering through the shops and checking out all the scrapbook stuff we could afford, and a lot of what we couldnt. Had a very sublime and chilled subway, and then returned to the ‘crop’ room to do a bit of chatting, cropping and using the alphabet sets that had been laid on.
So all in all a good time was had and we got back to liverpool at 9pm. Having staggered back to the car with all of hebe’s stash!!

My kids where all in bed when i got back, i love that feeling when you have been away from them. Just want to pick them up and kiss them and squeeze them (obviously without waking them!!!).

A fulfilling day, moments to be inspired by those much further down the scrapbook road and those wonderful moments when you realise just how damm thankful you are for your family.

Going to bonanza tomorrow, every time i think of that i cant stop singing that theme tune to the dodgy wild west show year and years ago. BON-ON-ZA. Ha ha. What it is,a meeting of scrapbookers in the nec, brum. funny that if you had told me a year ago that i would be going to one of these things and actually quite excited about it. I would have laughed in your face and said something like, ‘keep your weirdo, sandal wearing, crafty type madness’ thanks.

But here i am setting of at OMGoodness…0730am with my very amazing buddy Gill and leaving my three lovely kiddies in the arms of their daddy for the day.

But how things change eh? Inspired by a very cool lady called Cathy Zielske, an american scrapbooker I discovered that scrapbooking doesnt have to be about lots of ribbon, twirly bits and fluff. But can actually just be about some very cool pictures and some great stories about life with an added bit of colour.

I guess things that can seem crazy at one stage of your life, actually become something very very worth while at others….mmm

So we are off to the crop…..sorry but that word should not be used, i mean it sounds like an outbreak of something…’like there was a crop of chicken pox’

But nevertheless i am looking forward to it, Gill and i have a WHOLE day without having to answer the call of kiddies and that is worth celebrating. We are going to wonder around without thinking, lingering in shops and just not being at anyones beck and call, heck it could be anywhere. As i said to a friend recently, ‘if im standing in a queue and i dont have any kids with me, i enjoy it’

Dont get me wrong I love my kids so much sometimes that it hurts but its nice to have a bit of a breather now and again.

so we are off a scrappin’ and im going to love it all even if all i do is chill with my buddy and have a subway….

well, hello and welcome to our little blog, i havent a clue about most of the techie stuff involved in the this but it says that it will guide me through, so im trusting it, that seems a bit weird i know. My aim is to just send out a bit of day to day life in the james family. not going to blow you away i shouldnt think but hopefully my musings on our life will help to update our friends and family. Therefore making up for our sometimes tragic ability to keep in touch.

so thats it for the initial bit, welcome and swing by every now and again for a little slice of family life. much love s